Readers' comments

For those that can read french a very interesting exposure of the whole rotten thing, which is more in a left wing paper. Situation is direst for Romania if you take into account the director of the IMF, the German influence and the UK so unsure about the EU.
Voting for those anti-romanians ex-communists is a form of suicide, that is sure without a single doubt!http://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2012/08/31/le-raspoutine-de-...

Question is what will happen if those 60 something votes go to the USL? How will that be explained? Not being in the loop looks to me the former governing party (PDL) has made some huge mistakes. If such percentages come out, it is very hard to justify it only by people not understanding or corruption or whatever. When a party loses this big it will be very hard to say they are the defenders of law and Pro-Europe and so on. Something very bad must have happened to drive such a large swath of voters to the other side. And I think this issue is not even considered in the article. Or by those defending PDL. something is hidden, and they should bring it out first not others. If they wanna survive in the future.

You certainly are the only one not being biased.
Some stories are prevalent in Romania, they are all dull misinformation:
-that a french marxist governement will support a romanian one,
-that Romania is a colony,
-that the Ponta's chums are the people's friends.
You have to take into account the fact that the corruption all prevalent in Romania is abhored in France;
The nationalistic argument is used by all far right and left parties across Europe: they hardly obtain 15-20 %.
For the abovementioned you can understand that Ponta's clique is only interested in promoting their self-interest in contradiction of all for what Europe stands for.
By the way you must be aware of the fact that the plagiate of Ponta and spook curriculum of Voiculescu and others, being exposed it is only natural that doors will be closed; as usual, this presented victory, will only postpone any true healthy developement of Romania and in the end this clique will plunder once again their citizens either by direct theft or by inflation!

I assume all are in fact biased. Yet, your arguments sound strange. A compilation of diverse not very convincing:
"that a marxist French gov, will support the Romanian one". If anything, if you call the French gov marxist you are far from reality. Leftist yes but marxist? Let's keep in touch with realities! maybe Obama admin is also marxist? Gimme a break!
The colony issue and people's friends I will not even bother.
Third corruption in Romania: this is a decades if not centuries old problem. And by the way the PDL was in power for the last three years and corruption is still there if not stronger.
I beg to differ: not only Ponts'a party is promoting self-interest all parties do. Against all that Europe stands for? Really, do you think they can stay in power in the EU without playing according to the rules? I doubt it. It's just a more stronger national attitude. Nothing wrong there if you look at other EU nations. The closed doors is just an electoral trick. He needs to clarify the issue but beyond that changes will take place in Europe in the near future that will change the present political structures. So things are more balanced than only bringing up arguments that do not stand at a in depth analysis. I would agree with you if you said that considering the polls democracy is in danger because opposition will be too week. Yes, I would worry about that.
How long is the USL going to hold to power is another issue. But for now they seem to be on the top. Its simple democratic, alternative game. Don't sweat about it.

You have very childish way of looking at things in your first comment.

The FSN won the elections back in the 90's with 66%, Iliescu with 80%

DOes that mean they were the best choice? Or that their rivals were corrupt? Romaians have ever been known for making wise choices.

Today the polls sit where they because of the extreme ecoomic measures PDL has imposed (which have ultimately saved the country but romanians dont really know that) and because of the draconic measures they were prone to mainpulation by media outlets such as antena 3

All parties promote their self-interest? That is the credo of a unique, totalitarian extremist one! That is a very dangerous bias, on which I'm affraid Ponta's chums are riding!
No, it is not normal that a party sets about, once in power, to rewrite laws, to protect cronies, to control the economy or, in the worst cases to wage war against its own citizens! By using such hoodlums as Voiculescu the message is clearer still: with them corruption is not even to be verbally condemned! I remember that for a plagiarism a german politician demissioned and no political party was there to back a liar! Graver still a media mogul like this spook will certainly not disclose a Watergate type affair!
Europe is for the moment reluctant to not accept romanian court decisions but the question is on the table. The gravest form of corruption being the depreciation of its money, check the credentials of Iliescu and. co: something similar could still happen! With those two plagues Romania will become a kind of colony but the coloniser will be its own putrid ex-communist gang!

You can call it childish but this was exactly the point of my question: how come 20 years later Romania goes back to the same situation, of 60-70% to one party. Is it simply the "manipulated" people or something pretty ugly sent them to vote so many with one side like in the 90's? Whenever you have such concentration of votes one has to look at the causes. Explanations like " stupid people" "uneducated" or "austerity measures" are simply not enough. I'll let you think about it and maybe come up with some explanations. I just raised a question.

I was talking about political parties not individuals. But I see you only pick those points that help you further your agenda leaving the others untouched.
You act very passionate and in politics this is not a good thing. Are the Repubs in US not promoting their own self-interests? Or the Dems for that matter? Each political party has a credo and an agenda. That is what I was alluding at. Yet you spin it in another direction and go and go about it. I understand and respect your opinion about Ponta and Voiculescou. But it doesn't mean I have to agree. I don't know too much about Voiculescu but I saw Ponta and he appears pretty much ok with me. I'm not the type to be impressed by the EU actions. Their leaders proved bloody unprepared to deal with the crisis. And brought the Euro on the brink of destruction. People of all parties make mistakes. PDL made a lot of them in the near past and are now paying the price. That's all in my opinion.
Just a last remark. If you so much pretend fighting for democratic values, then you have to be more relaxed when someone has a different opinion than yours. Use arguments not insults. Otherwise yoy're not better than those you accuse of anti-democratic behavior.

I was talking about political parties not individuals. But I see you only pick those points that help you further your agenda leaving the others untouched.
You act very passionate and in politics this is not a good thing. Are the Repubs in US not promoting their own self-interests? Or the Dems for that matter? Each political party has a credo and an agenda. That is what I was alluding at. Yet you spin it in another direction and go and go about it. I understand and respect your opinion about Ponta and Voiculescou. But it doesn't mean I have to agree. I don't know too much about Voiculescu but I saw Ponta and he appears pretty much ok with me. I'm not the type to be impressed by the EU actions. Their leaders proved bloody unprepared to deal with the crisis. And brought the Euro on the brink of destruction. People of all parties make mistakes. PDL made a lot of them in the near past and are now paying the price. That's all in my opinion.
Just a last remark. If you so much pretend fighting for democratic values, then you have to be more relaxed when someone has a different opinion than yours. Use arguments not insults. Otherwise yoy're not better than those you accuse of anti-democratic behavior.

Of course you cannnot be passionate about the individuals you mention, they are only dull products of a party system. In politics there are some mistakes, to use your term, that totally decredibilize its author to being a public figure.
In terms of crisis management, once again, you certainly understand that those leftists will, once again, use their power to get easy credits to pay with inflated money thereafter, it is a Ponzi scheme that someone must pay for: that is not fair and never has created a vibrant society that all hope for!
But the very last arguments are not about pushing forward an agenda: it is about separation of powers, about independence of justice, about free press, indeed all those traditional values that a democracy fosters!

Let me just give you an example of the disguisting manipulation.
We had a whole televised theater with the closing of several hospitals by PDL with people *sic* fainting, journalists presenting round the clock, angry mobs and 'till these days PDL are called by the masses "the slayers of hospitals".

I found out that just a week ago two hospitals were closed in Mehedinti by the USL, this event has gone by under the radar. No mediatic spectacle, not even B1 tv reported largely about it, presenting it as a tragedy. No. It simply happened and it went over the people's heads.

What strikes very unpleasantly about the newly created ARD is that is makes use of the same old populistic slogans (such as 'We promote new people"). Craciun is a singular example in a party derived from PDL, which comes - remember?!! - from PD/ PSD. With Craciun's exception, this party seems equally doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past and promote people like Basescu's illiterate daughter into high positions such as the European parliament. When will we see people like Craciun in the European Parliament, instead of EBA's and others...?!

I agree that Eba's ascension in the European Parliament is massive a mistake on behalf of the PDL and Basescu. One reason which it angers me more than most people is because, had it not been for Eba's candidacy, PDL would have sent instead to Brussels, miss Alina Mungiu Pippidi, a woman which I believe would have been an asset as great as Monica Macovei to PDL as well as Romania.

Upon hearing the fact that Eba is also on the PDL list for Brussels, miss Pippidi refused to be associated with Eba and declined PDL's offer to be one of its candidates. You have no idea how much I hate Eba because of this.

Whatever the content of the article it can be inferred that the political system does not allow the emergence of new leaders if they happen to exist; it is not necessarily a romanian problem but here it is exacerbated by a strong party bias and a lack of healthy political ideas, not to mention a justice and separation of power traditions! That Craciun has a visibility is in itself a ray of hope!
The political existence of Voiculescu proves once again that this clique of self-serving crooks can win seats wathever their records. Their complete lack of vision for the country and their mission statement eg manipulate the law in their favour leave no hope for the future: everybody is aware of that!

I do not quite understand what you mean by that. If you are implying that there is a disproportionate population increase, then you are wrong - the population has dipped below 20 million after a steady decrease since its peak in 1992. We do have problems integrating the Romany (gypsy) minority, but the same goes for many of our neighbors. The one thing I can agree with is that Romania has the worst political class of all Eastern Europe - most of the "top people" are ex-communists or looters/scoundrels.

I don't see any link between Nigeria and Romania, Nigeria is currently one of the most promising african countries, whilst Romania's economy is overwhelmed by the level of corruption, showing no perspective for the future.

"By referring to his choice of a political party as being 'the least worse option', the candidate advocates the idea that there is no viable alternative, which obviously, is not true."

Obviously not true? I am curious which part of the USL looks obviously viable to you. To me it is clear enough that the USL leaders live in their own "Alice in Wonderland" world when they insist on having a proven thief and pathetic liar named as prime minister for the second time, just because they can.

As an observer with a fair share of information about the upcoming Romanian legislative elections I find there are 2 ways of reading this piece:

1)As a genuine politically neutral, brief analysis of a confrontation for a seat in Parliament between an infamous media tycoon and oligarch and a bright, ambitious young man who is fed up of the omnipresent corruption and inherent lethargy in Romanian decision-making.

2) To depict the entire legislative elections as 'an uneven fight' starting from this disparity in power, wealth and exposure between merely 2 candidates is slightly deceiving, because although the main aim is to raise sympathy for the political cause of a bright young man within the ranks of neutral readers and foreign observers, the direction of the article and the biased selection of some of the facts deployed also has another direction.

"He joined the ranks of the Civic Force, an offshoot of the larger Democratic-Liberal Party (PDL) of President Traian Basescu, because it was "the least worse option". All political parties in Romania are guilty of something, he says. All have weird members. The new party, whose candidates are running on joint lists with the PDL, is "the newest political entity and there are a lot of fresh people."

By referring to his choice of a political party as being 'the least worse option', the candidate advocates the idea that there is no viable alternative, which obviously, is not true. The 'fresh people' from the 'new party' he talks about, are mostly the same corrupt figures at the top of the PDL (President Basescu's party,) who were in power until Spring 2012. I have no problem whatsoever with one's political cause and subsequent choice, as long as he doesn't depict as something it is not, in this case, as a 'new' project, involving 'new people' that would offer a 'new approach' to Romania's problems. With a figure like Traian Basescu behind the 'New Party', a president who has been so desperate to cling on to power and wield the Secret Services to his own advantage, the candidates of the ARD hardly provide any viable alternatives. By allying themselves with 2 other insignificant political parties to form a new alliance, the candidates of the ARD merely changed the formal denomination of their party from PDL to ARD, in an attempt to rid themselves of a brand despised and categorised by the Romanian electorate as being the most corrupt political force since the downfall of communism. The fact that "it is the newest political entity" does not necessarily imply that does people are as 'new' or as 'fresh' as the candidate would like us to believe.

Instead, by referring to the media tycoon and oligarch's power, wealth and dubious political past, the author seems to attempt to create an opposition of mythical proportions, much like 'David and Goliath', in which the sympathies of the electorate will clearly head towards ‘David’. In the process however, the overall image of the ARD will greatly benefit from this opposition and confrontation as they can exploit it in order to boost their low credibility in the eyes of the electorate, as well as present themselves under a new light in front of neutral and foreign observers, as a ‘young, honest and ambitious new group’.

I sincerely hope that the second interpretations is merely the result of my personal suspicion towards appearances in Romanian politics, and that the aim of the article was indeed to promote the struggle of this one man to gain a seat in Parliament and bring his contribution to solving some of the country’s severe problems. If this is the case, perhaps the author could have undergone some more research in order to provide the reader with a more objective and complete picture of the Romanian political arena.

Lastly, I would like to wish Mr. Iulian Craciun good luck in the upcoming elections and in any future political initiative he might have, as Romania does need bright, ambitious, young individuals with a proven record of success and performance, who would change Romanian politics and implicitly Romanian society, for the better.

your second interpretation is the correct one and the Economist has been very biased (pro-Basescu/PDL, anti-USL) in their coverage of Romania's political crisis. overall i see this as progress after the hack job articles published here during the summer crisis. at least this one attempts to hide the bias behind what is otherwise a nice story.

As far as stealing goes all parties in Romania steal about the same amounts. The PDL however did prove to be responsible. I'm refering of course to the VAT raise and budget cutbacks. Draconic as those measures might have been, they have turned Romania into the stable economy that it is today. While most countries in Europe are going into recession (even the ones outside the eurozone - e.g. Britain) Romania's economy is merely stagnating (and it could have been modest growth had it not been for destabilizing coup back in the summer). Don't believe me? Ask Liviu Voinea, one of the USL's financial secretaries who admitted the austerity measures have stabilized the romanian economy, just a few days ago (naturally his interview has been overlooked by media outlets such as antena3)

Also PDL is the only party which has tackled political class corruption. It is under PDL that politicians have started to be prosecuted and sentenced to prison (equally from all parties, all it takes is a google search to check the statistics) and under the PDL the DNA was created, which has been massively praised by the European Commission and the MCV reports. Under the USL, a downright moron has been appointed as minister of justice and she has immediately chosen to void of transparency all the procedures of naming the new DNA chief (gee, I wonder why?). I can hardly wait for the new MCV report this winter to see Mona Pivniceru scolded for her stupidity and blatant corruption.

Also, you can note that Basescu (nor Boc) never used an emergency ordinance to get rid of the constitutional court whenever it took decisions against them (eg. the pension 10% cutbacks, the merging of the local and parliamentary elections) as opposed to the USL this summer. So who exactly are tyrants here?

To discredit in such a way Mr.Craciun would be something of an offense if not properly understood by the same such well known pathetic tactics! You analyse and seem to reproach the David versus Goliath style in order to attract sympathy as if this was not legitimate!
There is only one way to read this article and it is resumed in the first phrase and in the behaviour of his ex-spook and actual mobster opponent...yes this is once again an objective and complete picture of those byzantine politics.

Congratulations, Eenvy - you have just launched the concept of "responsible theft". PDL is stealing better among "all parties in Romania steal about the same amounts (expressis verbis in your comment)" because it steals "responsibly". Well done!
This "responsible theft" has "turned Romania into the stable economy that it is today". Wonderful!
"While most countries in Europe are going into recession (even the ones outside the eurozone - e.g. Britain) Romania's economy is merely stagnating" due to "responsible theft".
Well, I guess we finally have the key to any recovery policy from the crisis: "responsible theft".
Congratulations!

Very good point (2), though a little bit too long. However I understand your need for an unbiased approach.

A pity that disabled persons use their impairment for political reasons. An even greater pity for being politically exploited by his party in such a dire political fight.

As a disabled person myself I can certify that the persons with reduced mobility access in the Romanian Parliament houses is made through a principal entrance and not through a back door.

As an activist for the impaired persons rights, I would advise Mr. Crăciun to focus on the real issues of concern about disabled people in Romania, and save his efforts for a better, more realistic, and, why not, independent, cause.

I can not understand why a lot of people in Romania do not sense the meaning of "law ". The president Basescu was not "a president who has been so desperate to cling on to power" but the majority of Romanians didn't agreed with the Referendum. It is as simply as that.

Corruption will always be present in the political class. It dwells in all the parties in Romania.

But PDL, in spite of having its fair share of thieves, has taken action during the peak of the economic crisis, sacrificing its political capital but putting Romania in a good economic position. It is also the first party to tackle corruption in the political class.

Is that so hard to comprehend? I feel sorry for you if it is. Carry on...

Sir. Your reply is injurious and confirms your approach of the "responsible theft". As a matter of fact, the faction you are so fiercely supporting accompanied the failed steps to counter the crisis with its ever deeper "responsible theft". From the thumb to the elbow, from the elbow to the shoulder, from the shoulder over the head. I can understand how much that hurts, particularly when you acknowledge their "responsible theft". For your own good I hope you personally have not been involved in that. But I may be wrong...

It's high time for Romania to kick out all of communist or post-communist idiots from the political class. It'a pity, that in Poland, we have to choose between, PZPR-idiots, or Solidarity-idiots or clowns (like Palikot, Korwin-Mikke, etc).
It's clear that Romania is very similar to Russia or Ukraine, in terms of power of media moguls, beeing not only oligarkhs but also political big fish.